Motor-driven agricultural machine



L. A. GREENE.

MOTOR DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE APPLICATION man JULY 1, 1919.

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L'. A. GREENE.

MOTOR DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 1. 1919. 1,343,866.

' Patented June 15, 1920.

L. A. GREENE.

MOTOR DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, I9I9.

Patented June 15, 1920.

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V64 Gnome/go Qwi tvmoo L A GREENE MOTOR DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1| 1919.

Patented June 15, 1920.

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- abtmeqo L. .A. GREENE-5 MOTOR DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION men JULY 1. I919- Patented June 15, 1920.

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7 Elwvwwtoz 57%?6 wane/a0 omega UNITED, STATES PATE T OFFICE.

LEM EL nusrrm GREENE, or GEEENviLLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

MOTORDRIVEN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Iatent. Patented J une 15, 1920,

Application'flled July 1, 1919. Serial. No. 307,843.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, LEMUEL A. GREENE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenville, in the county ofGreenville and State of South Carolina, have inventedcertain new anduseful In rovements in' Motor-Driven Agricultural achines; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make. and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in the machine disclosedin myending-United States application, Serial .0. 186,541, one

object being to mount the digging and ro tating implements upon a singleaxis, while I a further object is to provide a frame fulcrumed betweenits ends on the main frame of the machine, to mount the implements onone end tOf saidfulcrumed; frame, to. carry the motor on the other endof this frame,

and to provide means for tilting the frame to vertically .adjust theimplements. By mounting the implements and motor in this manner, theframe is approximately balanced so that it may be. rocked with ease toadjust the implements as required.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter full-y described andclaimed, the descriptive matter being supplemented by. the accompanyinga different form of-construction.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation with parts in section, showing the form ofmachine illustrated'in Fig.

Fig. 8 is a detail transverse section on the planeof line 8-.-8 of Fig.6.

In the drawings above briefly described, the numeral 1 designates themain frame of the machine, said frame including front and rear axles 2and 3 and wheels 4 and 5 fecting the drivin carried thereby. Suitablemeans 6 are provided for steering the front wheels 1 and other means 7may be used for similarly steering the rear wheels, the latter beingmounted for horizontal turning as seen in Fig. 4, and by means yet to bedescribed, said rear wheels may be driven when directed straight aheador when turned.

Fulcrumed between its ends in any preferred manner, on the frame 1, is averti cally swinging frame 8 upon whose rear end I a plurality 'ofimplements '9 are carried, While a gasolene motor or the like 10 ismounted on the front end of said frame 8. The implements and the motorsubstantially balance the frame so that it-m'ay be easily moved uponitsfulcrum to adjust the implements 9, and although any adequate meanscould be employed for rocking the frame 8, I preferably employ togglelinks 11 connecting the front end of said frame with the frame- 1..Thus', by properly operating' the toggles, the frame 8 may be tilted asrequired. I have shown a rod 12lead- 'ing rearwardly from the toggles 11to a hand lever 13 for operating said toggles, but other adequate meanscould of course be provided.

. The construction so far described is common to both forms of themachine shown, but the other features will be separatel described. Inthe construction shown in igs. 1 to 5, a suitable transmission casing 14is shown from which the ends of a differentially driven shaft 15project, said shaft ends being-suitably geared at 16 to the rear wheels5, the arrangement being such as'to permit steering of these wheelswithout afthereof. See more particularly Fig. 4; 11 order that the frame8 may be tilted without afiectingthe gearing 16, its fulcrum ispreferably alined axially with the shaft ends 15, and as one means ofaccomplishing this result I have shown posts 17 rising from the rearaxle 3 and having journals 18 through which the shaft ends 15 pass, saidjournals being received in suit able bearings in the upper ends ofarms-19 which rise from the frame 8. This detail is also fullyillustrated in Fig. 1, but it'will be understood that it need not befollowed if other adequate means are provided for obtaining the desiredresult.

In rear of the casing 14 is another gear casing 20, both of thesecasings being mounted on the frame 8, and a shaft 21 extends rearwardlyfrom said casing 14 into the ca sing 20 and drives a transverse shaft22' which is located in the latter, a worm and worm gear 23 being bypreference employed for drivingsaid shaft 22 from the shaft 21. By meansof suitable gearing 24, the shaft 22 drives a suitable number ofrearwardly extending shafts 25 which drive the implements 9, said shafts25 being held in proper place by any preferred means such as the arms 26extending rearwardly from the easing 20 to the central'shaft of theimple ments. a

The implements 9 are shown as consisting of a plurality of rotarydiggers and propellers 27 adapted to be driven in a direction to propelthe machine forwardly, and ad'- ditional rotary diggers 28 which aredriven in the opposite direction to exerta braking action for preventingthe machine. from traveling forwardly at too great a speed, and for atthe same time thoroughly pulverizing the earth. All of the diggers 27and 28 are driven by the shafts 25 and although I have shown four ofsaid diggers 27 and two diggers 28, it will be understood that any suitable number could be used. They are all,

however, located on a single transverse axis and although they could bemounted and rotated in any suitable manner, I prefer the constructiondetailed most clearly in Fig. 3. It will be seen from this figure thatthe construction at the right-hand side of the machine and thearrangement at the other side is the same. The numeral 29 designates atubular shaft on which two adjacent diggers and propellers 27 aresecured, said shaft having a gear 30 meshing with a gear 31 on theadjacent shaft 25. 27 will thus be driven from said shaft in onedirection only. Another tubular shaft 32,

I much shorter than the shaft 29, carries the adjacent digger'28 and isprovided with a gear 33 meshing with a gear 34 on the adjacent shaft 25.The several gears intermesh in such manner as to drive the one set ofimplements forwardly and the other rearwardly, as will be clearlyunderstood from Fig.1. A main shaft 35 passes through the severaltubular shafts to retain them in proper alinement, and suitable bearings36 are provided for the shafts.

In Figs. 6 to 8, all of the impfements 9 rotate'in unison witha singleshaft which passes through a housing 51 containing a worm gear 52 and aworm 53, the former being rotatable with said shaft 50, while theworm-is carried by alongitudinal shaft 54 whose front end enters atransmission casing 55 from which a differential casing 56 depends.Shaft 54 passes entirely through the casing 55 and is driven by themotor 10 through the instrumentality of suitable gearing not shown,and'said shaft The members worm ear 58 of a differential mechanism whichrives oppositely extending shaft sections 59. The shaft sections 59 passthrough the rear axle 3 which is of tubular form for I this purpose asseen in- Fig. 8, and'the outer ends of said shaft sections are connectedby universal joints 60 with -stub shafts 61 which carry the wheels 5,coacting pivoted forks 62 being provided for holding the parts 59 and61' in proper relation and for allowing .the latter to swinghorizontally when the steering means 7 is operated.

It Wlll be observed that the earth work ing implements 9 are cared torun faster than the carriage whee s 5, so as to assume all propellingforce. These carria e wheels come into play in eitherpushing orwardly orbackwardly, so as to cooperate with the amount of force created by theimplements. They either retard or aid in moving the machine as may beneeded,-while the im- 0 plements are operating either deep or shallow,in either hard or soft soil.

The tractor structure, that is, the wheeled frame and the motor are ofextremely light construction and if the only propelling force wereexerted by rotation of the wheels 5, such force would not be sufiicientto draw an earth working implement which would pulverize the earth forany appreciable depth. However, it is essential that the tractorstructure shall be light in order that it will not pack'the earth andthereby in jure growing lants. To obtain the necessary tractive orce andat the same time to work the earth, I have provided the several rotaryimplements, one set turning forwardly and the other rearwardly. Bv

properly apportioning the number of differently rotating implements andtheir I speeds, the speed with which the machine advances may be readilycontrolled, and the earth will be effectively worked by the sameconsisting of two sets of rotary earth diggers mounted on a common axison said frame, and means for oppositely driving the two sets of diggersfrom the motor.

2. In an agricultural implement,'-a portable motor-carrying frame,axially alined shafts extending transversely of said frame, differentnumbers of earth diggers carried by said shafts, and means for rotatingsaid shafts oppositely from'the motor.

3. In an agricultural implement, a portcarries a second worm 57 meshingwith a able motor-carrying frame), a fixed shaft mounted transversely onsaid frame, tubular shafts rotatable on said fixed shaft and carryingdifferent numbers of earth diggers, and means for oppositely drivingsaid tubular shafts from. the motor.

4. Inan agricultural implement, a portable motor-carrying frame, axiallyalined shafts mounted transversely on said frame and carrying differentnumbers of earth diggers, bevel gears on the adjacent ends of saidshafts, a longitudinal-shaft 'driven by,

the motor, and bevel gears on said longltudinal shaft for oppositelydriving the aforesaid bevel gears.

5. In a motor driven agricultural implement, a main portable frame, asupplemental frame fulcrumed-between its ends on said main frame, anearth Working implement on one end of said supplemental frame, a motormounted on the other end of said frame for propelling the machine,

said earth Working implement and said motor approximately balancing saidsupplemental frame, and means for swinging said frame to adjust saidimplement.

6. In a motor driven agricultural implement, a main portable frame, asupplemental frame fulcrumed between its ends on said main frame, anearth working implement on one end of said supplemental frame, a motormounted on the other end of said frame for rotating said implement topropel the machine, said implement and said motor approximatelybalancing said supplemental frame, and means for swinging said frame toadjust said implement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

LEMUEL AUSTIN GREENE.

